The Falcons are still searching for an offensive identity. Did Bill Belichick find a defensive identity? And the Bills were reaquainted with a little reality. Here’s a quick look at every game of Week 4:
Lions 34, Cowboys 30
This season Tony Romo has gone from goat to G.O.A.T. back to goat. Not that the Romo haters will care, but two of Romo’s second-half interceptions on Sunday are explainable, perhaps even understandable. The first (to Bobby Carpenter) was simply a bad play. But the second was more about great defense than bad offense. Cornerback Chris Houston – who had trouble much of the afternoon against Laurent Robinson, a talented but injury-prone former second-round pick who looks something like a stretched version of Miles Austin – made an excellent jump on Robinson’s slant route. On the third pick, Romo correctly read no safety help over the top against Jason Witten. Problem was, with Kyle Vanden Bosch and Ndamukong Suh in his face, he underthrew the ball. Good read, poor execution.
The turnovers overshadow the fact that Dallas’s offensive line outplayed Detroit’s outstanding front four most of the afternoon. The Cowboy defense also stymied Matthew Stafford. Detroit’s saving grace on offense was that Calvin Johnson remained the most unguardable receiver in the game.
Bears 34, Panthers 29
Ahh….now that’s nice: A classic Chicago Bears game, as we’ve come to know. Against Carolina, Chicago’s offense was actually its defense and special teams. Defensive back D.J. Moore had a pick-six off a tipped pass (poor decision by Cam Newton to rifle a ball to unreliable Legedu Naanee against tight bracket coverage on the play). Matt Forte’s second-quarter touchdown run was set up by a 73-yard kick return from Devin Hester. The next time Hester touched the ball, he went 69 yards and somersaulted for his record-setting 11th career punt return score.
Jay Cutler finished with just 17 pass attempts, while Forte posted a career-high 205 yards on the ground. Maybe this will get the Panther fans talking about their own team’s run game. The one-two punch of Jonathan Stewart and $21 million man DeAngelo Williams combined for just 18 carries. The duo has combined for 20 carries or fewer in all four games this season, and the Panthers are now 0-3 when their wunderkind quarterback throws for more than 370 yards.
Bengals 23, Bills 20
Maybe the Bills can take solace in being good enough to fall for a trap game. They have experienced weekly trap games the past nine years, but never as the trapee. They have no choice but to shake this one off and move on. Doing so could be tough, particularly for the coaching staff. Buffalo’s coaches are the ones who know just how vulnerable their team is defensively. With a lackluster pass-rush and a struggling secondary (cornerback Leodis McKelvin has been especially shaky filling in for injured Terrence McGee), the Bills are not as good as their .750 record suggests.
As for the Bengals, the rookie wideout A.J. Green was an acrobat downfield Sunday, and Cedric Benson was a bell cow (19 carries, 104 yards). That’s their main formula, and it got them to 2-2.
Titans 31, Browns 13
Those who follow the Titans closely are saying FINALLY! Jared Cook breaks out! The 6-5, 246-pound ex-Gator is perhaps the most athletic young tight end in the A.F.C. But he has struggled to harness his gifts while sorting through the mental demands of playing in the N.F.L. With increased playing time this season, Cook appears to be thinking less and reacting more. We saw this on his 80-yard touchdown catch against the Browns. When Kenny Britt was sidelined, Cook became Tennessee’s best chance at creating mismatches through the air. Look for him to get more split-out opportunities as the season progresses.
Chiefs 22, Vikings 17
At least the Vikings did not blow a hearty halftime lead in this one. Minnesota is on track for a pair of quarterback controversies: in 2011, Donovan McNabb or Christian Ponder? In 2012, Christian Ponder or Andrew Luck?
Redskins 17, Rams 10
Playing at home against what we’re realizing is a really good Redskins defense, Sam Bradford averaged 3.8 yards per pass attempt while completing less than 50 percent and taking seven sacks. Without having yet watched the film, it’s difficult to say whether this was a product of a great Redskin defense or an awful Ram offense. Like most things, it’s probably a combination of both.
The Rams limp into their bye week with an 0-4 record. It’s possible – in fact, probable – that four weeks from now, they’ll be 0-7. Their next three games are: at Green Bay, at Dallas and home vs. New Orleans. 0-7 might seem catastrophic, but in the N.F.C. West, it’s considered striking position. Six of the Rams’ last nine games are against feeble division opponents.
49ers 24, Eagles 23
You might say not all N.F.C. West teams are feeble; the 49ers improved to 3-1. Considering the Niners just put together a come-from-behind win on the road against an alleged Dream Team (is it too predictable to call the Eagles a Bad-Dream Team?), all cries about the 49ers’ legitimacy will be received with respect for the next 48 hours. But Niner apologists beware: that’s still Alex Smith you’re vouching for.
As for the Eagles, they can look forward to a week of hyperventilation and criticism over their fourth-quarter struggles. They’ve been outscored, 36-0, in their current three-game losing streak. In two of the losses, they were moving for a potential game-winning drive late only to have wideout Jeremy Maclin literally drop the ball. Maclin, who has otherwise played well this season, dropped a fourth-down catch with 1:45 remaining against Atlanta and carelessly fumbled with 2:15 left against San Francisco.
Saints 23, Jaguars 10
This from STATS Inc.: “The Saints (on Sunday) became the first team from the N.F.C. South to win in Jacksonville. New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Carolina and Atlanta had been a combined 0-8 in the River City.”
Who knew Jacksonville was called the River City? And who knew it was possible for a team to gain 30 first downs and 503 yards of total offense but manage only 23 points? Good productive day for the Saints. Road wins are always welcomed.
Texans 17, Steelers 10
The Texans opened the game with a 19-play touchdown drive that took 10:55 off the clock. It was the longest drive the league has seen since the Saints went for 10:59 against the Raiders on Oct. 12, 2008.
Houston’s drive was a work of art, with Arian Foster rushing for 45 of his 155 yards and Matt Schaub completing five passes to either a back or a tight end. It wasn’t the first time this season that Pittsburgh’s front seven fell back on its heels in run and short pass defense.
But here’s the thing about long drives: they’re not nearly as productive as explosive plays. When you eat up so much clock, you’re not just limiting your opponents’ possessions – you’re limiting your possessions. This, by nature, helps keep a game close.
That’s partly why the Texans found themselves leaning on their defense to make a stand and win the game late in the fourth quarter after surrendering 10 points in a pair of third-quarter Steeler drives that totaled more than 13 minutes. Fortunately for the Texans, their defense responded. Pass-rushers Connor Barwin, Mario Williams and Antonio Smith were fantastic all afternoon. They sacked Ben Roethlisberger four times and constantly forced him to relocate his pocket. The Texans finished with five team sacks and eight quarterback hits and hounded Big Ben into two interceptions on the final drive (the first was called back by a roughing-the-passer penalty).
Giants 31, Cardinals 27
Every year we get a game that’s defined by a blown call at the end. Sometimes, as with the 2008 Broncos-Chargers game in which Ed Hochuli pre-emptively blew the play dead on a Jay Cutler fumble that he deemed an incomplete pass, it helps lead to rule changes (the N.F.L. became more lenient in continuing action on plays involving fumbles).
What will the reaction be to the erroneous ruling that Victor Cruz gave himself up before setting what should have been a live ball on the turf late in the fourth quarter at Arizona? Normally, a team in Arizona’s position can point to its own many mistakes as the real reason it lost. The game is always bigger than any single play. That remains true in this case – after all, the Cruz play was just one of 135 plays on the afternoon, and it directly provided zero of the Giants’ 31 points. But it could be extra difficult for the Cardinals to admit this given that they outrushed the ground-and-pound Giants, 156 to 54.
Falcons 30, Seahawks 28
We continue to monitor the Falcons’ search for an offensive identity. As stated in previous posts, the Falcons are built to pound the ball. But the huge price they paid for the first-round rookie Julio Jones could persuade them to attack more through the sky. That was the case in Week 3 at Tampa, and it appears to have been the case in Week 4 at Seattle. Jones was targeted 17 times (he had 11 catches). Those targets, however, could have been a reaction to his drastic mismatch against Seattle’s so-so right corner, Brandon Browner. We can’t pinpoint the Falcons’ identity until we get a little more data on them. But it’s looking like change is in the air…
Whether this sort of change would be wise remains debatable.
Packers 49, Broncos 23
Bronco fans, had you not been so rudely clamoring for Tim Tebow right out of the gate, John Fox probably would have given the Almighty Ex-Gator a chance in the fourth quarter. But Fox knew that a change under center, even in garbage time, would be viewed as an indictment of Kyle Orton. Probably not wanting that distraction, he kept Orton on the field and watched him throw his third interception late in the fourth quarter.
Orton wasn’t the culprit for this loss, though. Denver’s defense was…sort of. The D struggled mightily, but given the brilliance of Aaron Rodgers – career highs 408 yards passing and two touchdowns running – criticizing it feels almost like blaming Bryon Russell for Jordan’s final jump shot as a Bull.
Patriots 31, Raiders 19
Bill Belichick’s best feature is his ability to remold his defense in a way that compromises the opponent’s greatest strength. Pinpointing Oakland’s greatest strength isn’t hard. Needing to stop Darren McFadden in order to stop the Raiders, the Patriots opened the game in bear defensive looks, which, in essence, meant five-man defensive lines. Aside from a 40-yard McFadden scamper, the approach worked. The Raiders got just 35 yards out of McFadden’s other 10 carries and had to retrofit their gameplan around Jason Campbell. Campbell threw the ball well but had two costly (and terrible) interceptions, including one directly to Patrick Chung in the end zone.
Chargers 26, Dolphins 16
Typical Chargers game: nice weather, mediocre opponent, solid but not jaw-dropping performance and Dan Fouts calling the action for CBS.
Ravens 34, Jets 17
This game would have made more sense if they’d just let the two defenses line up and fist-fight each other for 60 minutes. The Jets should have major concerns about facing Vince Wilfork and the Patriots without Nick Mangold next week. The Ravens can be concerned about Joe Flacco if they want, but some simple run-pass balance in the play-calling would go a long ways toward ironing things out.
Andy Benoit is an NFL analyst for CBSSports.com and founder of NFLTouchdown.com. He can be reached at andy.benoit@NFLTouchdown.com or @Andy_Benoit.
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